


Princess of Bloodred Waves

by eternalempires



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avatar: The Last Airbender References, Bending (Avatar), Bloodbending (Avatar), Earthbending & Earthbenders, F/M, Fire, Fire Nation (Avatar), Firebending & Firebenders, Fluff and Angst, Protective Katara (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Some Humor, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26381401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalempires/pseuds/eternalempires
Summary: For months now, Zuko and Katara have been dancing around their feeling, unsure of where to place their feet and desperately holding onto each other but at the same time trying to push away.And they have so much to do:Rebuild the war-torn world,Protect their people,Deal with ones still trying to take them down,Make allies and friends out of fellow leaders,And finally, rule over their respective nations.They have no time for romance.Or, that's what they're trying to tell themselves.They're opposites, they're fire and water. They're not supposed to be together. They're not supposed to like the flames or the feeling of water soaking them to the bone, they're not supposed to be attracted to someone so dangerous. Katara isn't supposed to bend water the color of blood, twinkling like dancing fire in the moonlight. Zuko isn't supposed to shoot blue flames from his hands, glowing like ice against the morning sun.So why are they?
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong, Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Taang, Zutara - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Princess of Bloodred Waves

**Author's Note:**

> This is only the prologue but I hope you enjoy it just as much!

"Don't dismiss the elements. Water soothes and heals. Air refreshes and revives. Earth grounds and holds. Fire is a burning reminder of our own will and creative power. Swallow their spells. There's a certain sweet comfort in knowing that you belong to them all."  
― Victoria Erickson

prologue

Zuko could barely fathom how he was still standing, how he had managed to make it this far.

It had been four years since the Hundred Year War ended but to him, it felt like only a month ago he had been in the western air temple teaching firebending to the young Avatar. It had been a couple of long, tiresome years but with the amount of problems and damage he had to unravel that had been brought upon the world by his ancestors was... overwhelming.

The first couple of months were the hardest, he had been so unsure of where to start; what needed more attention.

Weeding out the vengeful and greedy government officials still loyal to his father had been a daunting task but one that Zuko handled with grace. Once his opposers had their political power taken from them so no new threat from the fire nation could disrupt the newfound peace, ruling got monumentally easier— even if there was an attempt on his life every now and then.

Ideas and plans that were productive for more growth and the well-being of his country got approved of in astounding quantity and put into action.

Since his nation had very little fertile soil due to the old Fire Lords pushing into farmland for the war effort, he had to convert old factories and training grounds into gardens and greenhouses used for both plants relating to food and medicine.

Over the last couple of years he and Katara, after keeping in touch via letters and scarce visits, created a public health system that brought healers and herbalists from all over the world to his nation, making sure no one went hungry or was left in unfair conditions or bad health from her position as both the Intelligence Ambassador and the Princess of the now prosperous and restored Southern Water Tribe.

She had won over so many hearts of his advisers when she proposed that idea in one of the meetings.

Zuko had to admit to himself that she had won over his heart too— somehow, someway along their getting to know each other.

This woman— this amazing, talented, fierce, and strong woman who had lost so much to their people and to the war was so selfless in offering her help. This woman who broke the Avatar out of his icy imprisonment starting the end of the war from a single decision, who he had tried to harm so many times, still offered her hand to him with a warm smile to match.

It was pure magic to see that look in her eyes, the one that told him just how much she cared.

He wondered, often, if the kindness and love in her heart was a finite sort.

Katara gathered resources and help from her tribe and the Northern Water Tribe who had also assisted in restoring their sister tribe to their former glory, appointing Hakota as the chief.

She not only helped the fire nation those four years but practically raised her own nation back from the grasps of extinction, reviving a culture long since thought hopeless.

She helped Zuko, along with the rest of the gaang, make peace and alliances with other nations and leaders.

Many, many people throughout the world looked up to her as a leader.

The earth king Kuei and Aang's childhood friend Bumbi were happy to extend a tree branch to the new Fire Lord, knowing they could rely on the young but powerful waterbender's judgment when she said that he could be trusted; that he was compassionate and kind and nothing like his predecessors.

The Northern Water Tribe perhaps had been the hardest to create a bridge of friendship to, after their loss of Princess Yue to General Zhao's careless actions they were all wary of those from the fire nation.

But then they met Zuko and, to his immense surprise, realized that he genuinely wanted to restore the peace.

He was nothing like Ozai— everyone knew that.

But the fear and pain of one hundred years of war, a whole extinction of people except for one boy with arrows tattooed onto his head, and the slaughter of another that ended in only one sole bender left in that tribe, along with millions dead and injured were not forgotten.

Everyone was still on their toes, yet happy that the war was over.

They liked the new Fire Lord, even if he rarely liked himself.

Even if, when he looked in the mirror, he flinched at the unmarred half of his face— the boyishness now gone, his jaw sharper and features more mature. He looked exactly like his father, besides his mother's cheekbones.

And even though he could get quite grumpy from never having time to himself— adjusting to the royal life after sleeping in odd places and traveling on foot for the better part of three years was a little hard.

It was, most of all, lonely.

The burden of a whole nation was on this young boy's shoulders since the tender age of sixteen. It hadn't been fair weight to put onto one person alone, but he had grown only more devoted and determined to care for the people of not only his nation but the world as time went on.

He grew from experience, he learned so many things and that angry, heartbroken boy that longed for his father's approval was long since gone.

Instead, a man with a past as marred as his face but with the heart of gold took his place. He was wise and powerful, he had love in his heart, but despite the admiration his people had for him, being Fire Lord was rather an isolated title.

There was no one to help him rule, even if he had people to guide him.

His uncle was in Ba Sing Se tending to his tea shop and although they exchanged letters and answered questions about advice, it wasn't the same.

He had his loyal advisors whom he trusted, and even Lord Chamberlain who had almost taken a fatherly role over the young man, but they were all intimidated by him. For endless years, the Fire Lord was a title that symbolized godly power that should be feared.

People of his nation didn't know how to react to him.

He was among them but not of them, isolated.

No matter how many times he tried to break the ice between their views of him being supreme it just wouldn't melt, years if suppression backed their mindset.

Though those in Zuko's presence could see that absolute authority and confidence in his gaze that sought respect, they also saw the kindness and slowly free accustomed to his unusual shows of humanity.

It was still terrible alone though. No one really knew him.

His family had torn itself from the inside out long ago-- his mother banished, his father imprisoned, his sister in an institution for her madness-- and would never be whole again.

Expecting support from anyone but Uncle Iroh would probably make Zuko as mad as Azula was.

And all his friends were scattered around the world, Aang and Toph in the earth kingdom restoring all they could and calming down angry spirits that had been enraged and misplaced by the scorching brought upon their land by Ozai.

Katara with Hakota in the Southern Water Tribe rebuilding and growing their nation. Suki and Ty Lee were on Kyoshi island, and Sokka going between the two as all three helped wherever they could.

Mai was recently gone from Zuko's life, her uncaring and completely different views of the world counterproductive to him— painful in her attentiveness.

No one warned him that he'd feel almost as war-torn as the world was.

Which is why, when he had received a letter by a messenger hawk telling him that the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe would be visiting his nation to stay for a while, a strange yet so familiar feeling slammed into the pit of his stomach.

It was feelings that, for so many years, he had been dancing around and trying to shove down.

He cared for Katara more than he should; more than what would be a friendly limit. He didn't know when it was exactly that she had caught his attention but the young waterbender had and ever since them he felt... calm around her. Alive, even.

She made him happy.

Very few people did that— and the ones that did had been ripped away from him.

Zuko's jaw clenched as he stared out at the neatly written out characters on the paper, a fire seeming to burn in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn't let her get hurt, he wouldn't push her away.

He would make sure that she knew he'd always be there for her.


End file.
